Modeling Earth Science Instructional Plan

For my lesson plan, I focused on modeling the three types of plate boundaries; convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.  This was something that I discussed in my week 4 post.  I was originally going to do the activity that I found at:  https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1340776_1%26url%3D but decided to try something a little more engaging.  I chose a similar lesson except the students used graham crackers and honey to model the three boundaries.  After they modeled the boundary with the graham crackers, they had to determine what type of geological event would occur at this boundary.  This information was given in the background information and was also discussed during the introductory PowerPoint.  The graham cracker model effectively demonstrated mountain building at convergent boundaries and volcano building at divergent boundaries.  If you did not recall the information learned in the background section, you would not know what geological event was occurring at the transform boundary though.  I had to remind the girl that I was working with to refer to the front of the lab for additional help. 

Has anyone ever performed this activity before?  If so, how did you effectively demonstrate a transform boundary?     

Below I added a few pictures and a brief description of the lesson:

 

Modeling a Divergent Boundary:  First the student had to hold the graham crackers (tectonic plates) next to each other on top of the honey (asthenosphere).  As she pulled the graham crackers apart, the “magma” filled in the gap and eventually cooled and harden forming a volcano.  

 Modeling a Convergent Boundary:  With a new set of materials, the student had to take the graham crackers and push them together.   As the graham crackers met, they began to buckle up and form a mountain. 

Modeling a Transform Boundary:  Once again, the student had to gather a new set of supplies.  This time she placed the graham crackers (tectonic plates) next to each other and had to slide them past each other.  This geological event was not as obvious as the others, but she eventually figured out that she created an earthquake.  

Investigating the Earth and Beyond: Showing Compassion for Others

In this week’s discussion post, I touched on the importance of having compassion for others when natural disasters strike.  When the tsunami hit Japan last year, many of my students felt unaffected by this event.  They could not imagine why anyone from the United States would help out this country.  The response that I heard from numerous students was, “why should we help out others when we have so many homeless people in our own country?”  This question really threw me off because in my mind people are people and we should all help each other out.  My students did not view it this way.  That night I went home and created a PowerPoint on the tsunami in Japan.  I started out the presentation by explaining what a tsunami is and how they form.  I then discussed the events of this particular tsunami.  They were shocked to learn how high the waves were and how much of the coast it covered.  Giving them the specific mileage meant nothing, I had to actually compare it to something they knew.  When I did this, I could see their hearts open up to these people.  Next, I showed them pictures and video clips of the event.  That night, a large number of my students went home and looked up ways they could help.  At the time, one organization was donating a dollar for every origami bird they received.  The following week, I had about 500 origami birds on my desk all done by my students.  In the middle school, students are still very egocentric and need to be reminded of the world beyond their eyes.  I believe that small things, such as taking a day out of the curriculum to have a teachable moment, can be life changing.                 

Ask a Scientist!

I wanted to learn more about the reproductive system of the Indiana Bat and wondered if it is possible for them to have twins.  So far I have not heard back but I am hopeful that I will learn more by the end of this class. 

Even though it takes a while to hear back from the scientists, I think this tool would be great to teach my students.  My students are so curious and ask me everything under the sun.  Sometimes they will even email me at all hours of the night saying, "I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about..." and actually expect me to answer them immediately! (They are so funny) Now any time they have a question they can pose it to an actual scientist and share the answer with the class.  The only down fall is that by the time they hear back they might not be interested in the topic anymore.   

Exploring the Presentation Tools!

This week I viewed the online tutorial for “Prezi.”  My initial reaction was that this presentation tool was absolutely amazing!  When I viewed the video on layering and grouping, I realized it might not be as simple as the tutorial video made it seem and I began to feel a little nervous about it.  My fear is that my presentation will look like the one that had no layering or grouping.  When I was viewed this video, it made me very dizzy and I felt as if there was no logical flow to the presentation.  Even though my fears are getting the best of me, I still think I will experiment with this presentation tool.  I love how you can actually insert a YouTube video right into the presentation.    

The next tool that I looked into was “Animoto.”  This tool allows you to create a presentation video.  It seems very simple and user friendly.  I like how they could add photos and videos into the presentation.  I also liked how they were able to lower the background music when they played the video of the family.  I also love that this site is FREE!  I definitely would recommend this tool to others and think that this is the one that I am going to use for my presentation.   

21st-Century Topics and Tools

The physics topic that I chose to explore was Galileo’s principal “showing that (ignoring air resistance) heavy and light objects accelerate at the same constant rate as they fell” (Stern, 2006).   I found a very simple yet amazing website that allows the students to explore this principal with and without air resistance.  This website can be found at http://www.planetseed.com/node/20129.   Even though this website seems very juvenile I think it is very effective. 

This website helps the students to become 21^st-century scientifically literate students because they will be able to fully understand how objects accelerate at the same rate.  In class we are limited to the things that we can show our students and no matter how well we explain it the visual learners will not grasp the concept.  With the advances in technology we are able to show the students things that cannot be easily demonstrated. 

After introducing this concept with an interactive PowerPoint, we would do an activity that was similar to the one we performed the first week of this class.  The following day I would have the students explore the interactive websites.   The students will keep notes of what objects they chose to drop and the result for normal mode.  They will also have to keep notes on vacuum mode.  After they are done with the activity they will have to summarize their findings. 

The challenges that I might face that are very typical when I work with technology are, old computers, low batteries, and the internet going down.  That is why it is a must for me to always have a back-up plan. 

References:

SEED (2012).  Galileo drops the ball.  Retrieved from http://www.planetseed.com/node/20129

Stern, David P. (2006) The way things fall. Retrieved from: http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sfall.htm

The Heat Is On!

In my experiment, I covered my mugs in aluminum foil, a wash cloth, plastic wrap, and a bounty paper towel.  The results of my experiment are listed in the data table below.   I discovered that the best insulator of heat was the aluminum foil and the worst was the plastic wrap. 

	Original Temperature	Final Temperature	Temperature Change
Aluminum Foil	94o F	89o F	5o F
Cloth	94o F	88o F	6o F
Plastic Wrap	94o F	84o F	10o F
Bounty Paper Towel	94o F	86o F	8o F

If I were to repeat this experiment, I might try other things such as glass, wood, metal, cardboard, rug, etc.  I think using materials such as these would also make it more interesting for my students.  I believe that by using out of the box materials such as these, my students will have to think critically about the outcome of the experiment.   I would assume that glass would be a good insulator since “it has many small air spaces” making it difficult for the molecules to move through (Tillery, Enger, & Ross. 2008. pg 86).  

 I also like the idea of trying to have the students keep food warm.  This would be a great real world scenario.  The question that I would pose to the students is, “The only thing you have for lunch today is a hot dog and you want it to stay as warm as possible.  What would you wrap it in to ensure that you had a nice warm lunch?”   I think some items such as water have the potential (when left uncovered) to cool faster than the food because of its state of matter.  Since water is a liquid, the particles are free to leave the mug allowing the water to cool faster.    

References:

Tillery, B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated science (4^th ed.). New York:

McGraw-Hill.

Exploring the Physical World: Week 2 Blog Post

The problem that I chose to test was how different surfaces would affect the momentum of marbles.  In order to explore this problem, I first set up a ramp that would allow the marble to roll down and gain momentum.  I then measured an additional three feet for the marble to roll on the selected surface.  I placed a barrier at the end of the three feet so I knew when to stop my stopwatch. 

The first surface that I tested on was a low rise carpet.  I completed three trial runs and then found the average time, which was two seconds (see data table 1 in reference section).  Next, I moved onto a wood floor.  After completing the trial runs, I discovered that on average, the marble rolled the total distance in 1.5 seconds (see data table 1).  So far it looked as if my hypothesis, the smoother the surface the longer the marble could maintain its momentum, was correct.  To truly determine if my hypothesis was correct I wanted to test on a rougher surface.  The final test that I performed was on very rough carpet.  I was not shocked when the marble stopped completely a few feet before reaching the barrier.   See results below. 

Data Table 1: Small Marble

	Trail 1	Trial 2	Trial 3	Average
Low Rise Carpet	1.9 seconds	2.0 seconds	2.1 seconds	2 seconds
Wood Floor	1.5 seconds	1.6 seconds	1.6 seconds	1.6 seconds
Rough Carpet	Did not make it to three foot barrier

The inquiry experience made me curious about the other concepts that I had read. 

Data Table 2: Large Marble

	Trail 1	Trial 2	Trial 3	Average
Low Rise Carpet	1.8 seconds	1.7 seconds	1.8 seconds	1.8 seconds
Wood Floor	1.4 seconds	1.4 seconds	1.4 seconds	1.4 seconds
Rough Carpet	2.4 seconds	2.5 seconds	2.4 seconds	2.4 seconds

To ensure that the experiment worked out, I completed a few test runs before actually recording any data because I wanted to make sure I pushed the marble and started the clock at the same exact time.  I quickly learned that if I listened for the marble to hit the barrier, rather than looking at the marble, I received the most accurate results.

 I think this experiment is very fun for the students if you allow them to pick their surfaces that they can test on and design the steps of the experiment.  The only problems that I might encounter is bringing in different surfaces for the students to test on.  I could relate this experiment to their lives by asking them when different surfaces have affected their lives.  For example, riding a bike on ice roads verses dirt roads. 

The goal of this experiment is for my students to understand the concept of momentum and how different surfaces can affect momentum, as well as different masses.